After back-to-back years of disastrous offenses performances against Clemson, Auburn's leaders on offense are confident there will be far more continuity and rhythm in this year's marquee season opener with Washington.

Two years ago, Gus Malzahn employed a quarterback carousel against Clemson. Five players took direct snaps including all three scholarship quarterbacks, who at one point were all on the field simultaneously and later split a single drive. The incomprehensible plan led to just 262 yards, yet because of its defense Auburn only lost 19-13.

Lindsey said there is "no question" the offense will have more of a flow in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff on Sept. 1 than last year in Death Valley.

"I think that's a given," Lindsey said. "It's probably going to be more to do with Clemson is probably one of the best defenses in the country; Washington will be too. We had a chance to beat Clemson. We were inside the red zone several times and didn't score touchdowns. We need to score touchdowns when we get chances. That's one thing I know I'm going to try to improve on obviously with our offense.

"At the end of the day we're going to have a great camp, get ourselves as ready as we can and go out there and let it all hang out. It's a great opportunity for us to play Washington. If you win you're in a great spot. If you can learn from it and you don't play well, it's not over; you still got an SEC schedule to play. We learned that last year."

Stidham feels the offense will be "a lot different than Clemson last year." The redshirt-junior said both he and the coaching staff were getting acclimated at that point, but after a full season the core of the offense is already established with both him and Lindsey back.

"I think we got a good understanding throughout the year of what we could and couldn't do," Stidham said. "I think this year we kind of already have an idea of what kind of team, what kind of offense we want to be. I think fall camp we'll be able to establish that at an early point and really hit on it from there on out."

Malzahn, by far the determining factor in what the offense ends up looking like against the Huskies, is confident the offense will avoid a slow start this season.

"I think there's a couple of factors that go with that: Our starting quarterback is back, our coordinator is back (and) we do have quite a few of our skill guys," Malzahn said. "The biggest question is going to be up front, how quick they can jell. The stability of the overall players and the coaching staff will really help with that."

Coach, coordinator and quarterback are all seemingly on the same page, including about the implications of what will likely be a top 10 matchup.

"Obviously whoever comes away with the win will have a little bit of an edge throughout the rest of the season," Stidham said. "The good thing about this game, it doesn't have any conference implications. You should just go play this game and leave it all on the line, whether you're Auburn or Washington, in my opinion."

James Crepea is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @JamesCrepea.